Tuesday, March 27, 2012

A breaking news story from Spain concerns today’s arrest of a suspected Al Qaeda recruiter known as “The Librarian”.

Many thanks to Hermes for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling of this news clip. Note: there were problems with the audio in the original video from the news website, and Vlad was unable to repair the sound completely:

Below is the accompanying article from Intereconomía, also translated by Hermes:

Known among the jihadists as ‘The Librarian’

The Al-Qaeda member arrested in Valencia was tasked to recruit terrorists like the one in Toulouse

Jorge Fernandez Diaz says terrorists like Mohamed Merah were indoctrinated and recruited via Internet forums such as that run by the detainee.

The interior minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz highlighted the arrest of a suspected member of the Al Qaeda terrorist network, known in jihadist circles as ‘The Librarian’, and said that terrorists such as Mohamed Merah, the murderer of Toulouse, were recruited and indoctrinated through Internet forums such as that run by the detainee in Valencia.

“He was known within the organization as ‘The Librarian of Al Qaeda’ and was in charge of one of the most important jihadist forums in the world, which was dedicated to the dissemination of terrorist activities, terrorist recruitment and indoctrination. To understand it properly, the training of people like Mohamed Merah, the murderer of Toulouse, was made possible through forums like this” said the minister, but has made clear that “this operation has nothing to do with the other in Toulouse”

As he explained in the Congress of Deputies, this is an operation that began more than a year ago and in which more than a hundred of agents were involved. “He is a suspected member of Al Qaeda who worked for this organization and for its two subsidiaries: Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb,” he added.

Fernandez Diaz has specified that the detainee had a full dedication to terrorist activities and employed between “8 and 15 hours a day at home.” To them “he spread jihadist ideas and engaged in the recruitment and transport facilitation of possible jihadists to Afghanistan and other countries where terrorism is very active,” the minister declared, and has assured that the operation remains open and that the alleged terrorist is currently being questioned.

Official sources have told Europa Press that the detainee had fixed his residence as in Valencia and, although born in Amman, was a national of Saudi Arabia. The police also searched his residence, located on Calle Juan XXIII of the city of Valencia, the same sources explained.